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HeroesCon 2015 Report

After a full day’s recovery from HeroesCon 2015, I’m ready to share my report with you. This was my first HeroesCon and I certainly hope this marks the first of many I’ll attend. If you haven’t been before – and, of course, if you love comics – I urge you to consider making HeroesCon a regular stop on your comics convention schedule.

Why?

The con is well-run, well-organized, filled with great creators, vendors, panels – you name it. It is a large con, but not so overwhelmingly large that you can’t move without hitting someone. (Although we heard that this year’s attendance was a record-breaker.)

(The 3 Guys with PhDs: me, Derek Royal, Andy Kunka)

Some months ago, Derek Royal secured a table for The Comics Alternative in Artists Alley. (We were in very close proximity to friend of the show and all-around great guy Craig Yoe of Yoe Books. Thanks to Derek for making all of this happen!

Derek also brought his daughter Zoe who was a huge help to us and took many of the pictures of the three guys with PhDs. Here’s a picture of Craig and Zoe, who Craig referred to as “the pretty Derek.” Zoe also helped educate me on several manga titles to check out. (Thanks, Zoe!)

Derek, Andy Kunka and I recorded several segments for The Comics Alternative (Here’s one of ’em) and generally had a great time talking to each other. Although I’ve been associated with The Comics Alternative for nearly two of its three years of existence, this was the first time I’d ever met either Derek or Andy K. in person and it was a great experience.

I attended three panels:

Get Graphic at the Library, which focused on the importance of recognizing and promoting comics and graphic novels, especially to those resistant (or opposed) to them.

The Immonens, a discussion with Kathryn Immonen and Stuart Immonen, creators of one of my favorite books of 2015 so far, Russian Olive to Red King (reviewed here and discussed in a podcast here). Earlier in the day, the Immonens were kind enough to sign (and illustrate) my copy of Russian Olive to Red King.

Speaking of creators, I was very pleased to talk with Matt Kindt and to get a great sketch in my copy of Mind MGMT Volume 4.

I spoke to several other creators and interviewed two: Michel Fiffe (Copra) and Royden Lepp (Rust). Derek spoke to many more creators, all of whom you can hear on an upcoming HeroesCon 2015 on-location podcast over at The Comics Alternative.

Probably the most awe-inspiring moment of the con was meeting Bernie Wrightson, an artist I’ve admired for decades, ever since I sneaked into my brother’s room as a kid and snatched his Creepy magazines. Wrightson is a living legend.

I also found several (too many) great deals, most of which are pictured here.

The best part of any con, though, is the great people you meet: creators, fans, listeners to the podcast, everyone. I met so many great people, too many to list here, but I do want to give a shout-out to my roommate for the con, Dave L. (pictured here as Space Cabbie).

So what did I do my first day back from HeroesCon? Recorded a podcast with Derek! Later this week, you’ll hear our thoughts on Grip: The Strange World of Men by Gilbert Hernandez (Dark Horse), Little Nemo: Return to Slumberland by Eric Shanower and Gabriel Rodriguez (IDW) and Providence #1 by Alan Moore and Jacen Burrows (Avatar). Hope you’ll give this and our HeroesCon 2015 podcasts a listen.